Sarkozy handed preliminary charges in graft case

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• The UN says the Syrian government has approved humanitarian aid deliveries to seven areas either held or besieged by foreign-backed militants. The Syrian government’s agreement follows talks between Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura in Damascus.
   
• The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says US-led airstrikes in northeastern Syria have left at least 15 civilians dead. The attacks came after a warplane struck a hospital in the northern Idlib province on Monday, killing at least eleven people. The US has denied responsibility for the airstrike.
   
• The UN aid chief voices concern over the mounting civilian casualties in Yemen as Saudi Arabia pushes ahead with its deadly airstrikes on its neighbor. Stephen O'brien called on the international community to push the warring sides in Yemen to take more serious measures to protect civilians.
   
• Israel’s Supreme Court blocks the transfer of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Mohammed al-Qiq to a hospital in the West Bank for treatment. The court said that Qiq must stay in the Israeli hospital where he is being held. He is reportedly on the verge of death after over 80 days on hunger strike.
   
• A regional president of the US Federal Reserve has warned that large banks pose a significant threat to the global financial system and they should be broken up. President of the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, says if these institutions fail, the US government will be forced to bail them out.
   
• French judges hand former president Nicholas Sarkozy preliminary charges as he is placed under investigation over irregularities in his 2012 election campaign’s finances. France had a ceiling of 22.5 million euros on presidential campaign funding in 2012. Sarkozy is accused of spending 17 million Euros in excess of that limit.
   
• President of the European Council Donald Tusk says there are still several key unresolved issues in a deal which would keep Britain within the EU. Earlier on Tuesday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron met with the European Commission’s chief Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss the draft of the deal.
   
• Ukraine's embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk survives a no confidence vote in the country’s parliament. President Petro Poroshenko had earlier asked Yatsenyuk to resign saying he had lost the public's trust in his ability to fight corruption and overcome economic problems. Ukraine’s government has come under growing pressure following allegations of corruption.

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